ORLANDO, Fla. — Defense contractor L3Harris is scaling up satellite manufacturing and is moving to automate the production of infrared sensor payloads, a senior company executive said.
L3Harris, one of the primary contractors for the U.S. military’s missile-tracking satellite constellation, has secured orders for 38 satellites from the Space Development Agency (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) program. The agency aims to deploy a Tracking Layer of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit to enhance missile detection and tracking capabilities.
Given the projected growth in demand, the company is moving away from the traditionally bespoke, low-volume production models that have long characterized aerospace and defense engineering, traditionally limited to bespoke or small-batch builds, Rob Mitrevski, vice president and general manager of spectral solutions at L3Harris, told SpaceNews at the Spacepower Conference.
A new factory, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is expected to begin operations in spring 2025 and will focus on the production of infrared payloads. These are specialized instruments integrated into satellites to detect and measure infrared radiation emitted as heat by objects. These payloads are critical for missile defense and environmental monitoring.
Mitrevski said the new facility will adopt a modern automated assembly line model. “Space production hasn’t been treated like all other production,” he said. Up until now, “there’s never been the demand and the volume to substantiate it.”
Pandemic delays ‘old news’Mitrevski said the PWSA constellation marks a turning point for the space manufacturing sector. With SDA poised to buy hundreds of satellites, the industry now has to think differently about how to meet that demand. The program to date has suffered delays due to supplier bottlenecks as companies in the defense industry were not prepared to scale up production.
L3Harris’ new factory will support military missile-tracking satellite orders as well as civil programs, including weather imaging spacecraft for government agencies. Under the SDA program, L3Harris also is supplying infrared payloads to Millennium Space Systems.
The company’s satellite production is being supported by Maxar Space Systems, which is supplying buses for 34 of L3Harris’ missile-tracking satellites. While Mitrevski described Maxar as a reliable partner, he noted they are behind initial expectations.
“They have many buses in various states of assembly and delivery,” Mitrevski said, indicating that progress is being made despite earlier setbacks.
The SDA’s PWSA program continues to deal with supply chain disruptions, however. “People continue to talk about COVID- supply chain issues, but that’s old news,” he said. “Now it’s really about increasing production capacity in the supply chain to maintain the pace.”
L3Harris is also positioning itself for future opportunities, competing in a U.S. Space Force procurement for medium Earth orbit missile-tracking satellites. These would serve as an additional layer of missile detection, complementing the low Earth orbit network.